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Assignment 5

This document contains a homework assignment with two parts. The first part asks the student to provide semantic ambiguity explanations for several sentences by paraphrasing them in multiple ways to convey different meanings. The second part asks the student to identify idioms they encounter through conversations or television shows and provide the meaning and origin of 10 English idioms. Examples of idioms identified include "a blessing in disguise", "break the bank", and "hit the sack".

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128 views

Assignment 5

This document contains a homework assignment with two parts. The first part asks the student to provide semantic ambiguity explanations for several sentences by paraphrasing them in multiple ways to convey different meanings. The second part asks the student to identify idioms they encounter through conversations or television shows and provide the meaning and origin of 10 English idioms. Examples of idioms identified include "a blessing in disguise", "break the bank", and "hit the sack".

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Homework 5

1. Explain the semantic ambiguity of the following sentences by providing two or more
sentences for each that paraphrase the multiple meanings. Example: “She can’t bear children”
can mean either “She can’t give birth to children” or “She can’t tolerate children.”

a. He waited by the bank.


1) The word bank indicates a business where people keep their money, borrow money, etc., or the
building where such a business operates. So, he waited by a financial establishment related to
money tasks.
2) The word bank means the higher ground that is along the edge of a river, stream, etc. So, he
waited by a place which is the land alongside or sloping down to a river or lake

b. Is he really that kind?


1) The word kind means a group of people or things having similar characteristics. So, the
sentence means that “is he really that type or group?”
2) The word kind means having or showing a friendly, generous, and considerate nature. So, the
sentence means that “is he really friendly?”

c. The proprietor of the fish store was the sole owner.


1) The sole is a marine flatfish of almost worldwide distribution, important as a food fish. So, “the
proprietor of the fish store was the owner of a marine flatfish(sole).”
2) The sole means one and only. So, “the proprietor of the fish store was the only owner.”

d. The long drill was boring.


1) The lengthy tool was not enjoyable.
2) The making some holes with the long drill was not exciting.
3) The prolonged making some holes with the drill was tedious.
4) The long-repeated activity was not enjoyable.

e. When he got the clear title to the land, it was a good deed.
1) The clear title about the land was reasonable.
2) It was good of him to get the title to the land.

f. It takes a good ruler to make a straight line.


1) It needs a good tool(ruler) to draw a straight line.
2) It takes a good leader(dominator) to make a straight(upright) line.

g. He saw that gasoline can explode.


1) He captured a scene which is the gasoline can explosion.
2) He understood that it is possible for gasoline to bomb.
2. Go on an idiom hunt. In the course of some hours in which you converse or overhear
conversations, write down all the idioms that are used. If you prefer, watch some reality TV
for an hour or two and write down the idioms. Show your parents (or whomever) this book
when they find you watching TV and you can claim you’re doing your homework.

(Find 10 idiom in English, and origin/meaning)

1) A blessing in Disguise
meaning: It means a good thing that seemed bad at first. And, it used as part of a sentence.
origin: The origin of the idiom 'a blessing in disguise' is believed to be in the mid-1700s, however,
scholars have yet to pin down the first usage of the term.
The earliest instance of the term found in print was a 1746 work by English writer James Hervey
titled Reflections on a Flower-Garden.

2) Break the Bank


meaning: It means to lose all of you money.
origin: Not surprisingly, the origin of the idiom “break the bank” is financial. Scholars believe the
term “break the bank” originated sometime around 1600, when gamblers won more money than
the house (bank) could afford to pay. Some place the term’s origin closer to 1873, when a roulette
playing Englishman named Joseph Jagger won $350,000 (a huge sum for the day) at Monte Carlo.

3) Hit the Sack


meaning: It indicate that it’s time to go to bed. It used as part of a sentence.
origin: In the days before modern mattresses, people often slept on large sacks filled with hay.
The term ‘hit the sack’ is believed to have come into common use before 1880.

4) Piece of Cake
meaning: It is used to describe something that is very easy to complete.
origin: The idea of cake, which is literally a flat, sweet baked item, as being easy, originated
sometime during the 1870s when cakes were often handed out as prizes in cakewalks, which were
easy competitions to win. As for the origin of the idiom 'a piece of cake,' Ogden Nash was the
first to use it in print when he wrote “Her pictures in the papers now, and life’s a piece of cake” in
his 1936 work Primrose Path.

5) No pain, no gain
meaning: It means that you have to work for what you want. It used by itself.
origin: The phrase no pain, no gain was popularized in the 1980s by the American actress, Jane
Fonda. Fonda initiated the aerobics workout craze with a series of videos, in which she proclaimed
the ethic “No pain, no gain,” and “Feel the burn.” Interestingly, the sentiment has its roots
hundreds of years earlier.

6) Don’t Judge a Book by its’ Cover


meaning: It means you should not decide upon something based just on outward appearances.
origin: The origin of the idiom 'don’t judge a book by its cover' is fairly recent. The phrase is
attributed to a 1944 edition of the African journal American Speech: “You can’t judge a book by
its binding.” It was popularized even more when it appeared in the 1946 murder mystery Murder
in the Glass Room by Lester Fuller and Edwin Rolfe: “You can never tell a book by its cover.”
7) No Spring Chicken
meaning: It is usually used in a negative way to describe someone who is no longer young,
probably past his young adulthood, and sometimes doesn’t realize it and tries to look and act
younger than his age.
origin: The origin of the phrase actually comes from its literal meaning. In the early 1700s,
Farmers found that chickens born in the spring brought better prices than 'old' ones that had
gone through the winter. When farmers tried to sell the old birds as 'new spring born', buyers
complained that they were 'no spring chicken'. The first recorded use of the phrase in its
figurative meaning was in 1906.

8) Water under the Bridge


meaning: It refers to past events to be put aside.
origin: The origin of the idiom “water under the bridge” is an ancient one; this saying is derived
from an even older one that dates back to ancient Greece. Heraclitus, a pre-Socratic philosopher
who lived during the 4th and 5th centuries BCE, conveyed the same idea when he coined the
phrase “You cannot step twice in the same river.”

9) When Pigs Fly


meaning: It refers to something that is highly unlikely to ever happen.
origin: There have been many mentions of flying pigs throughout history, and there’s some
argument about the origin of the idiom “when pigs fly.”

The most general consensus is that the term originated either in Germany or Scotland, as there
are plenty of examples of its use as a way to describe something that is physically impossible.

10) Dog Days of Summer


meaning: It is used to talk about hot, sultry days.
origin: The expression 'dog days of summer' is celestial in origin. The term indicates a period
between July 3 and August 11 when the Dog Star, Sirius, rises at the same time or near the same
time as the sun in the Northern hemisphere.

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